The last week of college football's regular season makes for some strange bedfellows.

Take Oklahoma fans, who will be rooting for a Texas victory over Kansas State on Saturday night in hopes the Sooners can land the Big 12 title and a guaranteed slot in the BCS.

Or some Valero Alamo Bowl officials, who privately might be wishing for the ultimate equality with a BCS buster appearing in their midst like a surprise Christmas ham on their doorstep.

The local bowl and the Big 12's other contracted partners would benefit from a BCS buster appearing to upset the apple cart at the very top of the college football food chain.

Either the winner of Kent State-Northern Illinois from the Mid-American Conference Championship game or Boise State could become the latest BCS buster that would earn a spot as an at-large team when everything settles next week.

It's understandable why the local bowl might have particular interest Friday night in the MAC championship game. Kent State is No. 17 in the BCS. If it can move up one slot and finish ahead of one conference champion in the final BCS poll, it could trigger a chain of events that would mean UT would end up playing in the local bowl game.

The Longhorns still account for one of the fastest sellouts in the history of the Alamo Bowl. And they would move the needle in terms of national television interest against any Pac-12 opponent.

A Kent State victory and something as plausible as a UCLA loss to Stanford in the Pac-12 title game could vault the Golden Flashes into a multi-million dollar payday for their conference.

It would represent a remarkable comeback for a Kent State program that has played in one bowl in school history — the 1972 Tangerine Bowl. The Golden Flashes haven't had a winning season since 2001.

It's the same team that lost at Kentucky 47-14 in the second week of the season. Yes, that's the Kentucky team that finished 2-10, and coach Joker Phillips was fired even before the regular season ended.

But Kent State coach Darrell Hazell rebounded from that loss to lead his team on a 10-game winning streak. The Golden Flashes rank 11th nationally in rushing and second in turnover margin.

The BCS consists of the six championship teams from the major conferences — the Big Ten, Big 12, Southeastern, Big East, Pac-12 and Atlantic Coast. It also has four at-large teams of the best of the rest.

Notre Dame already has accounted for one of the at-large spots. Florida would take another if the Gators finish in the top four.

That would leave two more at-large teams. Oregon likely would account for one, but the BCS buster would account for the second.

That kind of equality would resonate through college football like a thunderclap.

The BCS already is a hated institution for fans, many of whom feel the best teams don't always get an equal shot at the national championship.

If Kent State were to jump in front of teams from big-boy conferences such as OU and Clemson, the perception would be shared by the richest of college football's fat cats.

But maybe not so much locally.

Texas' Dirty Dozen

Ranking the state's best teams, with record and next game in parentheses:

1. Texas A&M (10-2, bowl TBD): Aggies complete a regular season for the ages with beatdown of pesky old rival Missouri. But now the real fun starts for Johnny Football.

2. TCU (7-4, Saturday vs. Oklahoma): Gary Patterson can claim otherwise, but try telling some long-suffering Horned Frog alums that beating Texas in Austin for the first time in 45 years wasn't a big, big deal.

3. Texas (8-3, Saturday @Kansas State): If the Longhorns keep struggling on Thanksgiving night as benevolent hosts, it might be a good idea to let them occasionally play on the road on the holiday.

4. Baylor (6-5, Saturday vs. Oklahoma State): The development of the running attack the last several games has made the Bears' offense that much more productive — and lethal.

5. Texas Tech (7-5, bowl TBD): Seth Doege piled up huge numbers against Baylor but picked a bad time to become a turnover machine.

6. SMU (6-6, bowl TBD): Mustangs held on for dear life to preserve victory over Tulsa despite nearly squandering a 29-point lead. It wraps up a record fourth consecutive bowl trip.

7. Rice (6-6, bowl TBD): David Bailiff and the Owls completed a remarkable turnaround to win five of their last six and head bowling for only the third time in 51 seasons.

8. Houston (4-8): Nice finish after impressive victory over Tulane sparked by 129 rushing yards from freshman Ryan Jackson and D.J. Hayden's emotional appearance at the Cougars' last game at Robertson Stadium.

9. North Texas (4-8): Remember when the Mean Green dominated the Sun Belt Conference? Saturday's loss at Western Kentucky wasn't a pleasant departure as UNT blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead en route to a loss.

10. UTSA (8-4): Quick show of hands, please, from anybody who really thought the Roadrunners would be 8-4 and display the kind of momentum they had this season? The program's growth should resonate throughout the recruiting season.

11. Texas State (3-8, Saturday vs. New Mexico State): Another rough day defensively for the "Fightin' Frans" against UTSA as they yielded at least 250 rushing yards for the fifth time this season and didn't force a punt until less than a minute remaining in regulation.

12. UTEP (3-9): The final game of the Mike Price era ends with some surprising offensive pop and improved defense but a loss to Rice fueled by a rare breakdown on a kickoff return.

Bowl projections

Here's how Express-News college football writer Tim Griffin projects the BCS bowls, and those involving Big 12 and Texas teams: